Thousands of hours involved in tracking down Speights murder defendant

Amanda Loviza Times Herald-Record

Friday

Dec 9, 2016 at 1:15 PMDec 9, 2016 at 7:56 PM

MIDDLETOWN — From the Town of Crawford to Broward County, Fla., state police and other law enforcement agencies have put in thousands of hours tracking down the man they believe fatally stabbed volunteer firefighter Justin Speights on Jan. 1. The man is now behind bars, but the work is far from over.

State police, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Town of Crawford Police Department held a press conference Friday morning to officially announce murder charges in the Speights case, but gave few new details about the investigation.

Related story: College student charged with killing Speights

Jauntae Brown, 20, was arrested Thursday afternoon on the campus of SUNY Delhi where he is a student. The Spring Valley resident was charged with second-degree murder, a felony, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor.

Brown and Speights both attended a New Year’s party at 55 Paddock Dr. in Crawford, where police say a fight broke out shortly after the ball dropped. Speights, a 20-year-old Silver Lake volunteer firefighter and Scotchtown resident, stepped in to stop the fight, and was stabbed at least twice in the torso. State police Troop F Commander Maj. Joseph Tripodo on Friday did not give any details about the cause of the fight, indicating that several fights occurred during the party. Tripodo also declined to comment about whether the murder weapon was recovered.

Police agencies in Spring Valley and the Town of Ramapo, Westwood, N.J., and Broward County, Fla., were credited with assisting in the case, showing how far the investigation stretched. About 80 investigators from various state police units worked the case, Tripodo said, interviewing more than 250 people and examining more than 40 electronic devices.

Orange County has never had a case in which so many electronic devices had to be examined and so many man hours were spent, District Attorney David Hoovler said.

“To the people of this county, your law enforcement here is second to none, and bringing this case to this point, they have done a miraculous job getting it here,” Hoovler said.

It’s bittersweet, to reach this moment, said Steve Arroyo, a firefighter at the Silver Lake Fire Department and a close friend to Justin Speights and his family. Arroyo, the fire department and the Speights family are thankful to have an arrest in the case before Justin’s upcoming birthday, Christmas and the anniversary of his death, but Arroyo said it doesn’t bring Justin back.

“He’s not going to have kids, he’s not going to have a wife, he’s not going to have all the trials and tribulations of life,” Arroyo said.

Arroyo was one of more than a dozen emergency services personnel who lined the back of the conference room Friday, while several of Speights’ high school friends filled the center of the room. No one has ever forgotten Speights, Silver Lake public information officer Jeff Jaques said. Every fire call, Speights’ fellow firefighters still expect him to be in the back of the rig.

When word got out Thursday night that Brown would be in court, firefighters from across the area descended on the Town of Crawford courthouse to stand in support and memory of Speights. They know there’s still a long way to go before a conviction, Jaques said, but they want to help in any way they can to finally get justice for Speights.

The district attorney’s office has 144 hours from the time Brown was arrested to get an indictment handed down, Hoovler said. Brown is currently set to return to Crawford court for an appearance Wednesday afternoon, but Brown may be diverted to county court if there is an indictment first.

The investigation will continue, until there is a trial and a verdict or the case is otherwise resolved, Hoovler said.

Brown is being held in Orange County Jail without bail.

alovizavickery@th-record.com

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